2 days agoby wildlings_forestschoolWhat emotions does this image evoke in you? A four year old, climbing a log by himself and leaping into the flowing water like this? Over the past 50 years our culture has changed from very free-range parenting to a culture of fear. Fear of harm by others (both adults and children), fear of harm by vehicles and fear of litigation and accusations of neglect if we’re not parenting within eye sight. But what has this led to? In some cases, it has led to a decline in our childrens’ ability to risk assess and make decisions. It has led

3 hours agoby wildlings_forestschoolWhat a rag-tag bag of ragamuffins! This is about half of our Wednesday Forest Adventurers group. Most of the girls seem to be missing... I’m sure they were also adventuring somewhere in the forest! We always end our Wednesday sessions with a game of ‘123 Where Are You?’, which is a kind of gang-up hide and seek that also conveniently trains the children what to do in case they get lost and we are searching for them. We know it’s nearing the end of the session when little hands start tugging at our sleeves asking us if it’s time for

1 day agoby wildlings_forestschoolIs it any wonder children are so strong at this beautiful age? If given the time and space, they will move their bodies until their bodies scream for rest, then move them again until their bodies falls in a heap of content. Our Wildlings can always be found jumping, climbing, dancing, skipping, swinging, throwing, leaping, squatting, crawling and crouching; pushing, testing and growing their physical limits in every way imaginable. As a teacher who has spent time as an English teacher inside the classroom and a PE teacher outside the classroom, seeing the children able to move their bodies when,